"For Whom the Bell Trolls"
Writer: Jeff Deckman, Ronnie Sperling, and Stewart St John
Director: Robert Hughes
Episode Summary:
We are introduced to Angel Grove High School teacher, Ms Applebee and our first ever classroom scene. It's Hobby Week and the Rangers all get to introduce their hobbies to their classmates because this is definitely high school and not Kindergarten show-and-tell. Trini introduces her hobby of cultural doll collecting which inspires Rita to create a monster (surprise!). Rita exhibits jealousy over the fact that Trini had time to play with dolls whereas Rita was always busy planning world domination (the life of an evil dictator). Trini's favorite doll, Mr Ticklesneezer, is kidnapped by Squatt while Trini is sleeping. She asks Billy to hop in her white hatchback to help her find Mr Ticklesneezer (which she presumes she left at Ernie's or school). Mr Ticklesneezer collects things which he calls "goodies" and keeps them in jars - he sees Trini driving a car and decides he must collect that goodie - so now we have the Yellow and Blue Rangers captured in miniature form.
The remaining Rangers morph to battle Ticklesneezer and Kim discovers the bottle with her friends in it. Kim saves the day and releases Billy and Trini, all five morph and convince Ticklesneezer that Rita is evil and then Megazord attempts to capture Rita in one of Ticklesneezer's bottles. Convinced that Rita IS in fact evil, Ticklesneezer gives back all of the "goodies" he collected at Trini's insistence. Trini wakes up in the middle of the night and finds Ticklesneezer in his normal size sitting in her room and then confesses she has Rita on her mind. We're left with the question: was it all a dream?
Facts:
-First Ranger Line - "Thanks, Ms Applebee." - Trini
-First on-screen Ranger - Trini
-Last Ranger Line - "I definitely have too much Rita on my mind." - Trini
-Focus Character - Trini
-First meet Ms Applebee, first see an Angel Grove High classroom
-First time we see a Ranger's bedroom
-Angel Grove has a monorail transit line (makes the movie look like it does follow continuity now)
-Ranger hobbies: Jason (karate - fights with staff), Zack (surfing - since when?), Kim (gymnastics - does handstand), Billy (volcanoes - or being a nerd in general)
Observations:
I have to give MMPR credit for how punny their episode names are - this one is no exception. Trini episodes always seem to be more story-driven rather than stupid-driven like Billy's episodes. We learn more about her character (she collects dolls), her life (her bedroom is yellow and she sleeps on her side), and her interests (Zack's picture is framed and on the wall - seen behind Squatt's shoulder when he breaks into her room). She soooo likes Zack.
There's a brief scene with Zack, Jason, and Kim at Ernie's where Jason is breaking a board with his fist. Looks like something a kid at home would try to do, right? Not with PSA-Kimberly on the job. She says in a voice-over dub that it takes years of training to do this without hurting yourself.
Early Hypothesis:
Overall, I enjoyed this episode more so than I have others. Trini-centric episodes as I've said before tend to be more plot driven and things just make more sense. She's the character they've created that fits all situations since she's good at and interested in everything. I don't remember Trini being as prominent a character as she's been so far in these first ten episodes - which I'm thinking is because after Tommy enters the scene all bets are off. Prior to his arrival, I will release my first results from viewing to look at the team dynamics before a sixth character is introduced.
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